Presentation of the World Social Science Report 2016 at COP22 in Marrakech

Following publication of the 2016 World Social Science Report "Challenging Inequalities: Pathways to a Just World," a panel at the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) will examine environmental inequalities in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their two-pronged focus on inclusive development and sustainability.

Inequality and sustainability are key challenges of our time and are linked in ways that make it impossible to address one without considering the other. An attempt to tackle one challenge without considering the other is unlikely to succeed. The poorest and most vulnerable are also those most affected by climate change and environmental disasters; and inequalities compromise efforts to address environmental challenges. Inequalities and discrimination push the poorest and most marginalised into unsustainable practices, while powerful elites can continue with unsustainable practices without fear of recrimination.

The Report contains the latest thinking on environmental inequalities in terms of access to natural resources and benefits from their exploitation; exposure to pollution and risks; and differences in the agency needed to adapt to such threats.

Draft agenda

MODERATOR: John Crowley, Chief of Section, Research, Policy and Foresight, UNESCO

• Panelist 1: Dendev Badarch, Director, Division for Social Transformations and Intercultural Dialogue, Social and Human Sciences Sector, UNESCO

Theme: The World Social Science Report 2016: why and how sustainable and inclusive development relies on solid social science research

• Panelist 2: Ouidad Tebbaa, Professor of Geography, Tourism and Sustainable development, former Dean of the Literature and Human Sciences Department, University of Cadi Ayyad, Marrakech
• Panelist 3: Pedro Monreal, Programme Specialist, Social and Human Sciences Sector

Theme: The social sciences and economic inequality in SIDS

• Panelist 4: James Murombedzi, Senior Political Affairs Officer: Climate Change with the Africa Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Ethiopia, and author of WSSR article "Inequality and Natural Resources in Africa."

The Report is available for open access download.

The World Social Science Report 2016 – with contributions from more than 100 experts – was overseen by a Scientific Advisory Committee that included the Nobel-Prize laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz. The report is co-published by UNESCO and the International Social Science Council (ISSC) in cooperation with the UK-based Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex.